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Students enrolled in full-day preschool programs are better able to learn when they start kindergarten -- putting them on the path to success throughout their education and giving them the opportunity "to join the middle class," Education Secretary Arne Duncan writes in this opinion article. Duncan offers support for President Barack Obama's plan to provide greater access to full-day preschool programs for children from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Monday a program in which AmeriCorps members would be dispatched to 60 of the country's most severely struggling schools to help reduce dropout rates. AmeriCorps members participating in the three-year, $15 million program also will work to improve student achievement and help put students on the path to college. The announcement comes after the release of a report showing the devastating economic impact high-school dropouts have on communities, including the annual loss of $1.8 billion in tax revenue.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan began a three-day bus tour Wednesday with a stop in Pittsburgh, where he said the school system's cooperation with its teachers union should be a national model. Duncan praised the district's teacher-evaluation program, in which some teachers are eligible for bonuses if the district meets federal benchmarks for standardized tests. Duncan's "Education and the Economy Back-to-School Bus Tour" will end Friday in Chicago.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan began a three-day bus tour Wednesday with a stop in Pittsburgh, where he said the school system's cooperation with its teachers union should be a national model. Duncan praised the district's teacher-evaluation program, in which some teachers are eligible for bonuses if the district meets federal benchmarks for standardized tests. Duncan's "Education and the Economy Back-to-School Bus Tour" will end Friday in Chicago.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan will override a provision of the No Child Left Behind law that requires all students to meet proficiency standards in math and reading by 2014. Instead, the Obama administration is encouraging states that need them to begin applying next month for waivers, which will be awarded to states that have their own testing and accountability programs and meet other standards. Duncan said he decided to bypass the federal education law -- which he called a "slow-motion train wreck" -- because states no longer could wait for Congress to act on a revised law, although some have questioned whether Duncan has this authority.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has offered guidelines for school districts on how they may spend $3.5 billion from the School Improvement Fund on Title I schools. Some possibilities include: shutting down failing schools and reopening them with different teachers and administrators, management by charter schools and replacing staff at failing schools. "States and school districts have an opportunity to put unprecedented resources toward reforms that would increase graduation rates, reduce dropout rates and improve teacher quality for all students," Duncan said.